Editorial Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi: A Powerful Face of ... August Page 2.pdf · 2019-08-02  ·...

Imphal Times Supplementary issue Page No. 2

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Friday, August 2, 2019Editorial

Courtesy The WireBy : Kamala Ganesh

She has a v isib le presence inChennai; her statue stands in thepremises of the Cancer Instituteat Adyar, a leading centre foroncology in the country. Theroad leading to Besant Nagarfrom Adyar bridge is named afterher. Yesterday, the Tamil Nadugovernment announced that herb irthday would be celebratedevery year as ‘Hospital Day’.For the millennials and post-millennials in the city, however,Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi is ahazy, hea rsay f igu re o f thena tio nal ist er a – fe isty andarticulate, but as to what exactlyab out, th ey w ould h ave toscratch their heads and think. Onth e o ther han d, the o ld ergeneration of politically awaredenizens of Tamil Nadu knowabout her accomplishments, butmo stly as a chro nologicalnarrative of positions held andorganisations established.Fr om the vantage po in t ofh indsight, I think there is nodoubt that Muthulakshmi was apo werf u l face of na tio nali stfeminism in the first half of the20 th c en tury, w ith al l thecomplexities that this entailed.Her voluminous speeches andwritings are indeed ideologicallydriven, with elements from thediscourses of social reform andna tion ali sm comb ined wi thempathy for the issues espousedby the Justice Party and a benttowards international feminism.But it is in her concrete actions,specifically in estab lishing theAvvai Home in 1932 for destituteand abandoned girls and women,and the Cancer Institu te underthe aegis of the Women’s IndianAssociation (WIA) in 1952 thatwe see the unique nature of hercontribution. The protocols andethos sh e c reated in theseinstitutions are exemplars of anethic of care, insp ired both byfeminism and Gan dhiannationalism. But more on th islater.Bo rn in Pud ukk ottai toChandramma, a former devadasian d Narayanaswami Iye r,pr incipal of the Mahara jacollege, Muthulakshmi had tosurmount huge obstacles createdby her gender and caste, andstruggle to get an education. In 1912, she became the f irstwoman medical graduate from theMadras Presidency; she went onto become an obstetrician.In an interview in 2010, SarojiniVaradappan, a renowned socialworker who worked closely withMuthulakshmi, remembers her asan impressive, even formidable,pe rson ali ty. Imm acu late lydressed in heavy Kanjeevaramsaris pinned with a brooch, andsh in in g d iamo nd ear r ings,Muthulakshmi had a flourishingpractice delivering the babies ofal l th e r ich Mylapo reprofessionals.In f luenced by th e w omen ’smo vement and the na tion almovement, Muthulakshmi turnedher atten tio n to polit ics andpublic life. From 1926 to 1930,sh e w as a member o f thelegislative council in British India,th e f irs t w om an to be sonominated. She became the firstwoman in the world to become theDeputy President of a legislativecouncil.As a leg islator sh e w as anindefatigable campaigner andlobbyist for women’s rights on arange of is sues , includingmedical ins pec tio n in g ir l s’schools, exemption from schoolfees for poor girls, maternity andchild welfare, and reservation forwomen in various structures ofciv ic administration . She wasclosely associated with the All

Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi: A Powerful Faceof Nationalist Feminism

India Women’s Conference andthe Women’s India Association.Sh e edited the mul tilingu alquarterly journal, Stree Dharma,started in 1918.Mo st n otably, Muthulaksh mibrought in legislation to abolishthe devadasi system and childmarr iage. Th iscampa ign tr igger ed sti f fop pos ition f r om Con gressstalw art s l ike Ra jaj i and S.Satyamurthi. When Satyamurthiargued in the Legislative Councilthat the devadasi system was anan cien t r elig iou s custo m,with devad asi s b eing thecustodians of the traditional arts,she famously retorted that if sucha caste was indeed necessary andsince the devadasis had done itfor so long, why did the Brahminwomen not take over?Muthulakshmi would not haveimagined that decades later shewo uld be cr iti cis ed bycontemporary feminists and hercampaign would be seen as apatronising gesture. SociologistAmrit Srinivasan’s 1985 article,‘Refo rm and Revival : T hedevadasi and her dance’, wasfollowed by much writing on thedevadasis, their original putativerespected social status and theirlater ‘fall’, and the loss for theclassical per for min g ar tstraditions of South India. In particular, Muthulakshmi’scampaign was criticised as it wasperceived as disenfranchisingdevadas is f rom t rad ition alpr iv ileges and d enying themsu bjecth ood and agency.Histo r ian S . An and i, whi lelauding her un den iab lecommitment to women’s rights,sees her as ‘othering’ devadasisan d m ora lising on the ir

liberation from the clutches of thesystem as the only way out. Bu t lo ok a t i t f r omMuthulakshm i’s p ersp ective.Given th e h umil iat ion s s heunderwent, unsurpr isingly shesaw the devadasi system as asocial evil. In fact, one could inferth at to a la rge ex tent , h erpersonal anger was what gaveher campaign its sharp edge.Modern education was, for her,th e answ er – aga inunderstandable given her ownachievements in her professionan d in p ubl ic s erv ice . T hesincerity of her efforts to improvethe situation of devadasi womenis un den iable. Her to neinevitab ly echoed that of theentire social reform movement inthat era, warts and all; it did notec lip se the bas ic dr iv e f oremancipation and equality.In fact, Avv ai Hom e andOr phan age , th at ven erab lein sti tu t ion estab l ish ed byMuthulakshmi in 1931, startedspontaneously when three girlsfrom Namakkal, from devadasifamilies, arrived unannounced ather doorstep one n ight. Theyhad run away from home with

nowhere to go.Immediately she took them intoher own home and that becameAvvai Home, later shifting to itsow n p rem ises. I t h as sin ceexpanded to include a school andalso a teacher’s training school,an d i s on e o f the ear ly andenduring examples of formalisingthe eth ic of ca re in a publicvoluntary institution.The other institution, the CancerInstitu te, is an even br ightertestimony to Muthulakshmi’squalities of head and heart. Iexperienced this personally in2005, long after she had passedon. The institu te was like noother medical institution I knew– without the feel of either agovernment or private hospital. As I wen t thr ough m y o wntr eatmen t, the ins titu te ’sunder lying approach graduallyun fold ed: acco rd p r ior ity tosaving life at all costs, cutting outthe fr ills, advanced technologyfor core treatment alon e, nodifferentiation between differentclasses of patien ts in medicaltreatment.Much has been written about theCancer Institute as a pioneeringoncology centre in the country –its outstanding accomplishmentsin acq uir ing cut tin g ed getechnology, developing stringentpr o to cols and ye t g iv ingaffordable care; its challengesand limitations. What struck me, above all, is howDr. V. Shanta, at its helm for manydecades, has kept patient care – m edical, ps ych olo gica l andsocial – at the centre. She verilyembodies an ethic of care overand above medical pro tocols.Shanta, however, attributes thesefeatures of the Institu te to the

inspiration and effor ts of itsfo und er, Dr . Mu thu lak shm i,whom she refers to as Mother,and her son Dr. S. Krishnamurthiwho was the force behind theinstitute in Muthulakshmi’s finaldays and af ter her pas sin g.Krishnamurthi was a mentor toSh anta , s he w as h is loyalcol league and toge ther theysteered the institute to reflect thevalu es and e thosof Muthulakshmi, while strivingfor excellence.Muthulakshmi herse lf wasinspired to start the institute as aresult of a personal bereavement.She lost her sister to undiagnosedcancer in1923. She had nursed herthrough her last painful days.Amidst her grief, she vowed toestablish a specialised hospitalfor the treatment of cancer. Shewas inspired by the emergingadvances in cancer treatment inthe West and in 1925 spent a yearat Royal Marsden Hospital, inLondo n, to specialise in thesubject. She got the Women’sIndian Association involved in hermission. It was an unusual issuefor a women’s organisation totake up but the sheer force and

dynamism of her personality madethis a major activity of WIA formany years, says Sa ro jin iVaradappan.Muthulakshmi went about hermission with, well, missionary zeal.Her son Krishnamurth i, then adoctor in the Royal CancerHospital in London, was not keento get involved. In an interviewwith me in 2010, weeks before hisdeath, he remembered with a smile,“I got a telegram, ‘Mother serious.Start immediately’. I came back tofind her hale and hearty and whatelse, I joined her mission.” No one – doctors, funders or thegovern ment – would takeMuthulakshmi ser iously. Theythought it was a waste of time.There was a complete lack ofpublic awareness about cancer asan illness curable with specialisedtreatment. Among the var iousdocuments of the institute is aprinted appeal in 1935 to the KingGeorge V Fund Committee fromfive women’s organisations in thecity, mobilised by Muthulakshmi.She was tireless in her crusade

and it was through the force of herindiv idual convictions and themobilisation of her social andpolitical connectio ns thatJawahar lal Nehru la id thefoundation stone in 1952 for thefirst specialised hospital for cancerin South India.The character and thrust of theinstitu te thus b ecomecomprehensible only through thepersona l lives of it s th reeprotagon ists and their in ter-relations. The micro worlds offamily and fr iendship and ofideology and emotion fuelled thedynamism of the macro arena ofadvanced oncology.And behind the technological andorganisational strengths of theinstitution lies an ethic of care thathas evolved through the personalconcerns of Dr. Muthulakshmi.While the larger soc ial andhisto r ical con texts no doubtimpacted upon Dr. MuthulakshmiReddi’s life trajectory, in manyways, her story exemplifies theidea of u ltimately the personalbeing the political.

Kamala Ganesh is a sociologistbased in Mumbai.

The state today: blamethe representatibesThe state today is reeling under serious crisis. Bandh ,

agitations and general strike on various issues have oncemore become a daily affairs. Students’ now started facingdisturbances, proposed midterm exam have to be postponed,private entrepreneurs have to remain shut and the old ladywho use to come at Imphal Khwairambandh Keithel to earn aday meal for their children now were once more left with tearson their eyes. Bandh and general strike which had alreadyforgotten by the people for nearly 2 and half years now ishunting the people once again.

The previous government led by Congress receivedmaximum criticism due to the frequent bandh and blockade.And after the coming of the BJP government in March , 2017,the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh first agenda was to eradicatethe bandh culture and he had shown that for around two years.There were relieves to the parents of the state as they feltsafe to the career of their children. The private entrepreneursfelt that they can grow their business and the social thinkersthought that daily wage earner who live on hand to mouthwould no longer starve.

It was after this government nearly completed 2 and halfyears that the same regalia that had witnessed by the peopleof the state during the previous government regime seem toreturn. After some Ministers and some BJP MLAs starteddemanding replacement of the Chief Minister, people startedwitnessing any things like bandh blockade, general strike etc.While saying so it is not that there might be possibility of therebel MLAs inciting the various sections of people to createchaos in the state. But what Imphal Times felt is that the lackof coordination among the cabinet Ministers, MLAs had alreadymade the government helpless in running the governance.

At present the farmers are waiting for water, the manualsand miner labourers are left with no choice but to go withthe intense agitation by excavators and truck owners.

As those running the government fails to seat togetherand discussed the issue together to make a collective decisionin solving the problem, how on the earth would one expectrunning a good governance.

The present chaos in the society is the result of thepolitical instability in the state. It is over 2 months and keepingit in the way as it is without finding any solution is nothingbut an attempt to crumble the government so that the centercould impose President Rule in the state. Interlocutor to thegovernment of India RN Ravi had taken oath of office as thegovernor of Nagaland and when acting as the interlocutor, RNRavi had made many assurances to settle the Naga issue.

Solving the contentious issue of the NSCN-IM – what wouldhave been the best time. Obviously it will be the presidentrule.

Written By:John L. Berggren Craig G. FraserMenso Folkerts Wilbur R. KnorrJeremy John Gray

The geometric problems in thepapyri seek measurements offigures, like rectangles and trianglesof given base and height, by meansof suitable arithmetic operations. Ina more complicated problem, arectangle is sought whose area is 12and whose height is 1/2 + 1/4 timesits base (Golenishchev papyrus,problem 6). To solve the problem,the ratio is inverted and multipliedby the area, yielding 16; the squareroot of the result (4) is the base ofthe rectangle, and 1/2 + 1/4 times 4,or 3, is the height. The entire processis analogous to the process ofsolving the algebraic equation forthe problem (x × 3/4x = 12), thoughwithout the use of a letter for theunknown. An interesting procedureis used to find the area of the circle(Rhind papyrus, problem 50): 1/9 ofthe diameter is discarded, and theresult is squared. For example, if thediameter is 9, the area is set equal to64. The scribe recognized that thearea of a circle is proportional to thesquare of the diameter and assumedfor the constant of proportionality(that is, ð/4) the value 64/81. This isa rather good estimate, being about0.6 percent too large. (It is not asclose, however, as the now commonestimate of 31/7, first proposed byArchimedes, which is only about0.04 percent too large.) But there isnothing in the papyri indicating thatthe scribes were aware that this rule

geometricwas only approximate rather thanexact.A remarkable result is the rule forthe volume of the truncated pyramid(Golenishchev papyrus, problem14). The scribe assumes the heightto be 6, the base to be a square ofside 4, and the top a square of side2. He multiplies one-third the heighttimes 28, finding the volume to be56; here 28 is computed from 2 × 2 +2 × 4 + 4 × 4. Since this is correct, itcan be assumed that the scribe alsoknew the general rule: A = (h/3)(a2 +ab + b2). How the scribes actuallyderived the rule is a matter fordebate, but it is reasonable tosuppose that they were aware ofrelated rules, such as that for thevolume of a pyramid: one-third theheight times the area of the base.The Egyptians employed theequivalent of similar triangles tomeasure distances. For instance,the seked of a pyramid is stated asthe number of palms in thehorizontal corresponding to a riseof one cubit (seven palms). Thus,if the seked is 51/4 and the base is140 cubits, the height becomes 931/3 cubits (Rhind papyrus, problem57) . The Greek sage Thales ofMiletus (6th century bce) is saidto have measured the height ofpyramids by means of theirshadows (the report derives fromHieronymus, a disciple of Aristotlein the 4th century bce). In light ofthe seked computations, however,this report must indicate an aspectof Egyptian surveying thatextended back at least 1,000 yearsbefore the time of Thales.